Editor's Letter: Feeling Social?

Were you on Facebook today? Have you heard that familiar ping of TweetDeck ringing through your computer speakers while reading this article? I am assuming the chances are pretty good for one or both.

While I know there are still holdouts, the majority of the industrialized world today — including my octogenarian father — is using social media in one way or another. It might be to vent about that person who cut you off on the highway (really guy, you were driving like you were being chased by the authorities) or to tell people that you just saw a really cool film, or maybe, if you live in the Middle East, it’s to start a revolution.

Regardless of the content, you are sending a message, and post production companies and studios have taken to the Web to get their message out, to promote their work and to become part of the community.

Bruce Silverman, CEO of Dynasty Visual Effects & Animation, a new studio in LA, uses LinkedIn for prospecting. “It’s a terrific way to seek out possible customers because we can often find people we know who will introduce us to people we are trying to reach. We also use LinkedIn for mass e-mailings, etc. We also pay close attention to certain affinity groups on LinkedIn because we may be able to answer questions that someone has, and this helps us create and build relationships. We also, from time to time, have asked questions, which helps as well.”

Dynasty also uses Facebook, which allows them to stay in touch with customers and also with staffers in their China-based office. Silverman reports that they don’t find Twitter especially useful, “mostly because of the limited text capacity.”

At The Mill, in both New York and London, they use social media channels not just to showcase projects but create and drive new and existing relationships. “It has become an integral part of how we communicate to all of our partners, from clients, peers, industry bodies and recruitment,” reports Pip Lowe, head of press at The Mill.

“Obviously, The Mill has great content, which provides us with the perfect outreach to talk to an ever-increasing audience and create a link and reason for them to talk to us. Our social media platforms are the place we facilitate these conversations and our different categories and streams grow daily from our blog, YouTube and Vimeo providing immediate access to our reels and work, and Twitter gives us instant access to the entire creative community.”

How do you get “social?” Post has a Facebook page. “Like” us there and follow us on Twitter @post_magazine.